Marketing B2B technology solutions requires more than understanding the products – it demands the ability to communicate their value in ways that resonate with potential buyers. As businesses invest heavily in innovative technologies, the gap between technical capabilities and clear customer messaging continues to challenge even seasoned marketing professionals. Tiffany Nwahiri brings over 15 years of experience bridging this critical divide in the B2B tech space.
Finding Clarity in Complexity
Tiffany jumped into marketing back in 2008, just as the industry was undergoing a massive shift. “Everyone was really going from print into digital and figuring out how to get into Google Ads,” she recalls. “Social media marketing was hardly a thing then, and everyone was starting to talk about SEO.” What might seem basic now was cutting-edge then. “In 2008, that was technical! Now everyone completely understands they need to be there, but back then, even just selling that as a service to a small business owner was my first start into turning technical products into solutions that easily connected with buyers.”
Her timing couldn’t have been better. Companies were split between those clinging to traditional marketing and those eager to try something new. Tiffany found success by focusing on the tangible benefits: “When you could get them to understand ‘you’ll be able to better track this from the person that clicked, until they come and actually visit your location’ – it was easy to secure clients.”
Why Technical Translation Fails
After years working across MarTech, FinTech, and MedTech, Tiffany spotted a pattern in why tech companies struggle to communicate the value clearly. The problem often starts before marketing even enters the picture. “It typically always starts with the product team, product management, and engineers. They’re definitely a more technical audience,” she explains. “A lot of companies make the mistake of not looping in marketing early enough into the product phase.”
This timing gap creates a rushed scenario where marketing inherits technical jargon without enough runway to translate it properly. “Product comes up with something, it’s like ‘great, we’re launching it’ and marketing has a few weeks or maybe a short month to make it happen.” Then there’s the elephant in the room. “People will hate to admit this, but sometimes it isn’t a good product,” Tiffany says bluntly. “You’re taking a clunky product and using jargon to make it sound good. It’s like putting lipstick on a pig.”
Three Key Strategies for Effective Messaging
Through her extensive experience, Tiffany has developed several strategies to translate technical complexity into buyer-friendly language:
- Start with the problem, not the product – “When you are thinking about a person’s problem, the problem isn’t often that technical. That allows you to get the language speaking directly to the customer,” Tiffany advises. “It’s not so much the back end and exactly how the product does something that a prospect cares about. When you start with the problem first, it makes it significantly easier to tap into the value without having to go into technical features.”
- Leverage customer stories – Real-world examples break down barriers naturally. “When you can tell a customer story or have that case study, that also breaks it down because it’s saying, ‘This is a problem that someone else had, this is what we did. When a prospect hears a customer had a similar problem to them, and you relate that you were able to solve it, that helps make it less technical.”
- Focus on outcomes, not inputs – Buyers ultimately care about results. “Focus on outcomes and not the input that the product had to do. This is what it delivered – that’s the part they care about,” Tiffany emphasizes. She adds that understanding your audience is crucial: “Some prospects may indeed be more technical. If you’re selling something to a Chief Technology Officer, you do want to speak their language so that it feels respectful.”
AI has created a new challenge in tech marketing: buyers chasing trends without understanding the value. “A lot of buyers are buying buzzwords,” Tiffany notes. “They hear ‘AI’ and think ‘I want something that’s AI’ because it feels futuristic.” She cautions against getting caught in the hype cycle. “Your product very well may have AI components, but it’s not the AI you’re selling – it’s the value it brings. Does it speed time to value? Is it optimizing so you save money? Is it helping you scale faster?” As marketing itself faces disruption from AI tools, Tiffany sees adaptation rather than extinction. “Copywriters are probably panicking the most, and rightfully so, because these tools spit out great content,” she acknowledges. “But it’s really about reframing your business model. Maybe now you’re the strategist, focusing on content strategy but using AI to help execute with speed.”
Her final piece of advice reveals a subtle but important mindset shift: “As marketers, sometimes we’ll say a phrase like ‘dumb it down.’ I want to encourage people to stop saying that. Instead of ‘dumb it down,’ it’s ‘dial it in.’ We’re not dumbing it down – we’re making it clearer.”
Follow Tiffany Nwahiri on LinkedIn to get more insights on simplifying B2B tech marketing.
